Campus News

Partnership aims to better care for veterans and their families

By SARAH GOLDTHRITE, MOSAICS

“The reality is that men and women are putting their lives on the line. This is a tremendous opportunity to be a part of a project that could serve the needs of this population in a much broader and more comprehensive way.”

Katie McClain-Meeder, project manager

UB Partnership for Excellence in Veteran Care

Recognizing the need for a synergistic approach to the
long-standing problem of gaps in care for veterans and their
families, the School of Social Work and the School of Nursing have
founded the UB Partnership for Excellence in Veteran Care (UBPEVC)
to analyze the current state of care, develop a comprehensive
veteran care educational program for nursing and social work
students, and improve training and service delivery for health care
providers who serve veterans and military families.

One of the best ways to achieve this objective, according to
Lisa Butler, associate professor of social work and the
project’s principal investigator, is to develop a competency
of military culture so that students and practitioners can more
effectively relate to the veteran population. “Though
we’re not yet at the stage of analysis, we hope with our
focus groups to gain more nuanced information to be able to
highlight areas practitioners may not have considered emphasizing
previously.”

Training students now will lead to more practitioners later who
are sensitive to the culture of the military.

“Equipping graduate students with the knowledge and skills
to work in a way that is reflective of the needs veterans are
facing is one of our main goals. If the learning curve once
they’re in their professional careers is not as great, they
can make a difference in the quality of services veterans and their
families experience,” notes Katie McClain-Meeder,
UBPEVC project manager.

Developing this training is collaborative, and while there will
be some overlap across the schools in terms of how the training is
integrated, the specialization will be molded to fit the curricula
and requirements of each program. The ultimate focus, though, is
best practice in service delivery to veterans and their families,
regardless of the particular military branch or conflict the
individual served.

“Understanding on a more sophisticated level both military
culture and individual experience — what veterans have faced
and reactions and responses they may have having faced combat
in addition to issues surrounding reintegration — is part of
being trauma-informed when it comes to serving this
population,” Butler explains. “Recognizing the impact
of those life experiences allows us to better understand and
address underlying needs.”

One of those too-often veiled needs is service delivery to
families of veterans. That’s why project members aim to train
students to identify and address the needs of veterans, while also
keeping spouses, children and other family members in mind.
“Anticipating the unthinkable is a powerful, painful state to
live in,” Butler says. “Coping with this and adapting
to the possible mental and physical changes of a loved one is
tremendously important.”

The effects may be immediate or distant, and faced by close and
extended family. “If a health care professional can recognize
this ‘ripple effect,’ they can better identify issues
and intervene,” says Susan Bruce, clinical associate
professor of nursing and project co-PI. “It’s more than
just adapting — every family member must lean a different
approach to their role and their place in the fold.”

Politics aside, these individuals — whether veterans or
their families — sacrifice tremendously and deserve complete,
considerate, competent care. “The reality,” says
McClain-Meeder, “is that men and women are putting their
lives on the line. This is a tremendous opportunity to be a part of
a project that could serve the needs of this population in a much
broader and more comprehensive way.”

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